Sunshade Apparatus for Infant Carrier

ABSTRACT

An infant carrier has a sunshade that is removably coupled to a handle and that substantially occupies an interior space defined by the handle. The sunshade may be retractable from a pouch. The sunshade may have children&#39;s toys attached for child amusement.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims the benefit of the filing of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/339,023 filed Feb. 27, 2010, the contents and disclosure of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Present Disclosure

This disclosure relates generally to a sunshade apparatus for an infant carrier, and specifically to sunshade apparatuses that are removably attached to infant carrier handles and substantially coplanar therewith.

2. Description of Related Art Include Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

Brewer, U.S. Pat. No. 7,284,790 and Brewer, U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,153, disclose a full covering sunshade for an infant carrier. A sunshade is shown to be affixed to the handle of the carrier, however, it does not lie within the plane of the handle and instead extends to cover the entire lower portion of the carrier. Toys are shown as being attached to the sunshade in the child's field of view.

Mortenson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,490, discloses a full covering sunshade for an infant carrier. A sunshade is shown to be affixed to the handle of the carrier, however, it does not lie within the plane of the handle and instead extends to cover the entire lower portion of the carrier. The sunshade is shown as being partially constructed of mesh material.

Jamie, U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,639, discloses a sunshade that is extendable/retractable from the base of the carrier, attaching at the apex of an associated carrier handle.

LeFevre et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,422, discloses a toy retention blanket.

The related art described above discloses various sunshades coupled to infant carriers. However, the prior art fails to disclose sunshades that are removably attached to and remain substantially coplanar to the carrier handle. The present disclosure distinguishes over the prior art providing heretofore unknown advantages as described in the following summary.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a known problem that infants in carriers such as car seats and strollers are regularly exposed to the harmful effects of the sun. Heretofore, available sunshades of the prior art required that the carrier be fully covered. Such construction leads to a buildup of heat within the covered carrier that can become uncomfortable, if not dangerous, for the infant within. Furthermore, a completely covered child is removed from the sensory stimulations of the outside world because of the generally opaque nature of the sunshades currently used. These full coving sunshades are also cumbersome to attach and remove, and therefore increases the difficultly in accessing the child in the case of an emergency.

The embodiments described herein overcome the above discussed problems. Firstly, the described sunshade does not fully cover the carrier, but instead remains within the plane of the carrier handle, allowing for air circulation and sensory stimulation above that available in full covering sunshades. Secondly, the described sunshade is readily removable from the carrier, allowing a parent unfettered access to the child within. Furthermore, its use with a rotationally positionable carrier handle allows the presently described sunshade apparatus to be optimally placed so as to shield the child from harmful sun rays. Also, the present invention sunshade apparatus is easily attachable to present infant carriers without undue modifications to the carrier.

This disclosure teaches certain benefits which give rise to the objectives described below.

A primary objective inherent in the above described apparatus and method of use is to provide advantages not taught by the prior art.

Another objective is to provide a sunshade apparatus removably coupled to an infant carrier handle so as to remain substantially coplanar with the handle.

Another objective is to provide a sunshade apparatus that is useable with carrier handles of different sizes.

Another objective is to provide a sunshade apparatus that is easily and expediently removable from an infant carrier handle.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the presently described apparatus and method of its use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Illustrated in the accompanying drawing(s) is at least one of the best mode embodiments of the present invention In such drawing(s):

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presently described sunshade apparatus according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the presently described sunshade apparatus according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The above described drawing figures illustrate the described apparatus and its method of use in at least one of its preferred, best mode embodiment, which is further defined in detail in the following description. Those having ordinary skill in the art may be able to make alterations and modifications to what is described herein without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, it should be understood that what is illustrated is set forth only for the purposes of example and should not be taken as a limitation on the scope of the present apparatus and its method of use.

Described now in detail with reference to the drawings is a sunshade apparatus according to certain embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a sunshade 40 is coupled to a child carrier 10.

The carrier 10 preferably comprises a vessel 12 and a handle 14, the vessel permitting a child to be contained therein, the handle permitting a parent to carry the vessel. The carrier may be an infant car seat, stroller, swing, buggy, or other such carriers known in the art.

In a preferred embodiment, the handle 14 is a unitarily formed arcuate member having proximal ends 18 a and 18 b rotationally affixed to lateral sides 11 of the vessel 12, and a grip section 16 operable to be grasped by a user and to thereby permit carrying. The arcuate member preferably defines an interior space (not shown). Preferably, the space is a substantially planar; however it may comprise any space defined by projecting one portion of the handle 14 towards any other.

The sunshade 40 preferably comprises a sunshade body 42 substantially occupying the interior space and operable to substantially inhibit the penetration of sun rays therethrough; and at least one mounting means 50 operable to couple the sunshade body to the carrier handle 14.

The sunshade body further comprises an edge portion 44. In a preferred embodiment, the mounting means 50 is coupled to the sunshade body 42 at the edge portion 44; however, the mounting means 50 may be coupled to the body at any other part of the body 42.

As shown in FIG. 1, in at least one embodiment, an aperture 60, preferably defined by the edge portion 44 and the handle 14, may be positioned between adjacent mounting means 50, the aperture 60 being operable to permit a user to grasp the handle 14, preferably at the grip section 16. In some embodiments, the edge portion 44 at the aperture 60 may comprise a concavity 46 whereby the whereby the edge portion 44 is at a greater distance from the handle 14 at the concavity 46 than it is at other points along the edge portion 44. The edge portion 44 may be between on-half inch and four inches from the handle 14 along it's length, and, in at least one embodiment, is preferably less than two inches from the handle 14. As shown in FIG. 2, in at least one embodiment, the aperture 60 may be defined by the sunshade body 42.

As shown in FIG. 1, the at least one mounting means 50 preferably comprises a plurality of straps 50 operable to couple the sunshade 40 to the handle 14 by tying. Alternatively, the straps 50 may couple the sunshade 40 to the handle 14 by button fastener, zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other similar fastener known in the art, the fastener fastening a strap to itself, another strap, or directly to the handle 14.

In at least one embodiment, the mounting means comprises a first strap, a distal end of the first strap encircling the handle 14 and being fastened to a proximal end of the first strap by ting. Alternatively, the distal and proximal ends of the first strap may be fastened together by button fastener, zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other similar fastener known in the art, as shown in FIG. 3.

In at least one embodiment, the distal end of either or both of the first and second strap is preferably fastened to the body 42 by at least one of a button fastener, zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other similar fastener known in the art, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

In at least one embodiment, the proximal end of the first strap is removably attached to the edge 44 of the body 42 by at least one of button fastener, zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other similar fastener known in the art, as shown in FIG. 4.

In at least one embodiment, the proximal end of the second strap is also removably attached to the edge 44 of the body 42 by at least one of button fastener, zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other similar fastener known in the art, as shown in FIG. 4.

In at least one embodiment, the mounting means 50 is a direct mounting means (not shown) whereby the body 42 is coupled to the handle 14 by at least one of button fastener, zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other similar fastener known in the art.

In at least one embodiment, the mounting means 50 may by removably fastened to the edge 44 of the sunshade body 42 by, for example buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, or any other similar fasteners known in the art, so as to permit quick removal of the sunshade body 42 from the interior space, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 2, in at least one embodiment, the at least one mounting means 50 may comprise one or more sleeves 50 substantially encompassing the handle 14 and being removably coupled to the edge 44 of the sunshade body 42 by at least one of button fastener, zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other similar fastener known in the art. The sleeve may be substantially extended straps and any and all features of the straps described above, may be similarly applied to the sleeves.

In at least one embodiment, there may be a single sleeve 50 containing a pouch (not shown), the sleeve being coupled to one proximal end 18 a, the pouch containing the sunshade body 42 and permitting the sunshade body to be extendable therefrom to the other proximal end 18 b and to be coupled thereto via additional mounting means 50.

In at least one embodiment, the single sleeve 50 containing the pouch may be coupled to the grip section, the sunshade body 42 being operable to be extended downward therefrom and coupled to each proximal end 18 a & 18 b via additional mounting means.

Alternatively, the body 42 may be extendable from the pouch toward the head (or foot) portion of the vessel 12 and be coupled thereto, providing a canopy-type covering. This feature may be implemented with either the sleeve or strap type mounting means.

In at least one embodiment, the pouch and body 42 comprises a retractable roll-up type screen system.

In at least one embodiment, the pouch contains an auxiliary body (not shown), in addition to the sunshade body 42, that is extendable from the pouch to couple to the vessel 12 thereby providing a hemispheric covering. The pouch may be positioned on the body 42 or on the sleeve mounting means 50.

In at least one embodiment, the sunshade body 42 is preferably constructed of light weight breathable material that substantially inhibits penetration of the sun's rays, such as cotton. In at least one embodiment, the sunshade body 42 is constructed of semi-transparent synthetic mesh material. In at least one other embodiment, the sunshade body 42 is constructed of UV light blocking material.

In at least one embodiment, child amusement devices such as mirrors, toys, music boxes, and the like are removably coupled to the sunshade body 42.

The enablements described in detail above are considered novel over the prior art of record and are considered critical to the operation of at least one aspect of the apparatus and its method of use and to the achievement of the above described objectives. The words used in this specification to describe the instant embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification: structure, material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings Thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning, then its use must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word or words describing the element.

The definitions of the words or drawing elements described herein are meant to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements described and its various embodiments or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim.

Changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalents within the scope intended and its various embodiments. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements. This disclosure is thus meant to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted, and also what incorporates the essential ideas.

The scope of this description is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended claims and it is made clear, here, that each named inventor believes that the claimed subject matter is what is intended to be patented. 

1. An apparatus comprising: an infant carrier having an interior space defined by a handle; and a sunshade substantially occupying the interior space.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one mounting means operable to couple the sunshade to the handle.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one mounting means comprises a plurality of straps.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one mounting means comprises a plurality of sleeves.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one mounting means comprises a single sleeve.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one mounting means removably couples the sunshade to the handle.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade is substantially bounded by the handle.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade is substantially planar.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the handle is rotationally positionable with respect to the infant carrier.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade further comprises an aperture operable to enable a user to grip the handle.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade further comprises an edge, and wherein the edge comprises a concave portion, the concave portion forming an aperture operable to enable a user to grip the handle.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade further comprises an interior surface having at least one child amusement device removably coupled thereto.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade is constructed of semi-transparent material.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade is constructed of UV light blocking material.
 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interior surface further comprises a compartment containing an extendable covering, the extendable covering operable to extend from the compartment to the carrier and to be removably coupled thereto.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sunshade further comprises a compartment and is extendable from the compartment.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one mounting means operable to couple the compartment to the handle, and further operable to couple the sunshade to the handle opposite the compartment. 